Stranger in Need
by Sirro134
Summary: Vincent is out for a night time stroll when he comes across a captor abusing their captive... what will he do? Read and Review Please :)
1. Chapter 1

A/N *disclaimer that I don't own Beauty and the Beast... Yet!Muahahahahaha... erm yeah...

Read on!

Vincent was jumping around the rooftops of Manhattan for a late night stroll. He kept feeling cooped up in the warehouse and needed to get out of there. He and JT noticed that it was happening more frequently than it used to, but so was his contact with the outside world; Catherine. JT had gone off on one of his usual rants about how it was a bad idea and what if he didn't come back one night.

Vincent knew he meant well but it did get on his nerves once in a while. Vincent jumped onto another fire escape and leapt up to the roof. He was going to keep going but he heard someone crying somewhere. The area was full of old shut down packing plants. No one should be there. Vincent stood and listened for the crying again so he could hopefully find the source.

Normally, he would have passed by without taking notice, people cry all the time. But this was the cry of someone in pain, a lot of pain. He narrowed it down to two buildings and heard someone moving around in the second.

"Whimpering about will not help you. Go ahead, scream, yell but no one is coming for you."

"Why are you doing this? Is this some sick joke to you?" Vincent got to a window above the two people. He could see a young woman bound with tape and was lying on the floor, bleeding. It looked like she had been stabbed with the amount of blood coming out of her abdomen. There was a man standing over her with a greedy look on his face, his heart was racing and he was holding the knife. The man crouched down just above her head and traced the knife around her jaw down to her neck.

"They say that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. All those things you wanted to do, wanted to see. Family that you will never see again," He got up and paced around his defenceless prey. "And then you wonder how bad it would be to die."

Vincent was getting agitated but he knew he had to tell Catherine where this poor woman was. Catherine had told him earlier that day about a woman's body being found almost the exact same way this woman below him was. This man had killed innocent women, several of them, and he was going to add one more to his list unless Vincent did something. He got out his phone and texted Catherine's number

He's got another victim. 2230 Shipton Dock.

Vincent put his phone away and knew he had to act soon or this girl would pay the price. He looked in again to find a good way to catch the evil man inside quickly and hopefully without him seeing him. The woman turned and faced the same direction as Vincent's window; he ducked out of view in case she gave him away. He noticed another window that was closer to the man inside and climbed over to it.

The young lady looked around desperately for there to be a way out of this nightmare. All she had been doing was walking home alone and minding her own business. Why did this sick bastard have to pick her for his twisted pleasure? The pain in her chest was more intense than anything she had ever had before in her life but she was trying to keep a brave face so that this wack job wouldn't get as much fun out of it. She could feel the blood leaving her body and taking her strength with it. The young lady looked away from the blood and at the windows in the distance. All they showed her was darkness.

"Slowly things will turn darker and you will lose all ability to move. All your strength is leaving you, I can see it." The man stood on top of her and bent down towards her pain stricken face. A thought crossed the woman's mind and with all her strength she shifted her legs, knocking the man off of his and making him land hard onto his side.

"You little-" but he didn't get to complete his statement because something swept him off the floor and slammed him into the wall opposite to the young lady. She tried to lift her head to see what had happened but could not keep it lifted for long. She saw a person in the shadows holing up her captor and threw him across the room again. The captor hit the wall hard and slumped over unconscious. The person seemed to blur as he ran over to the unconscious man. She hear a growl escape the person's throat and pick up the evil man with one hand. He turned and put him in a beam of light.

"I should wake you up and make you suffer for what you have done. You deserve nothing better you-"

"Wait." The young woman choked out. Vincent heard her call to him through his instincts that told him to kill.

_Wait_

Vincent looked over at the young woman, bound and bleeding on the floor. He could feel his doctor reflexes kick in and dropped the evil man that did that to her. He could feel the control returning and felt safe enough to go over to her.

The young woman watched the stranger drop the man and head in her direction. She had a scared thought enter her head; what if he is going to hurt me too? No, he could see what the man had done was wrong and wanted to punish him for it. He stopped just at the edge of the light. She squinted to see better but all she could see were two ember eyes glowing back at her. The pain increased and she winced. The stranger rushed to her side and ripped off the tape like it was paper.

"It's going to be okay." The stranger said. He turned her so that she was laying on her back and propped her head up on his knee. The light in the ceiling backlight his face from her view but outlined a scar lining his right cheek. She tried to lift her hand but blackness took over and she went unconscious.

Vincent heard her heart rate drop as she went unconscious.

"No, no, no, no. Stay with me here. Come on." He shook her gently but she did not wake. He knew that if he tried any harder it would do more harm than good. Vincent paid attention to the stab wound in her stomach. The young lady had lost a lot of blood and he knew it needed pressure to stop the bleeding. All his medical training kicked in and he ripped off the sleeve of the young lady's jacket. He was pretty sure she would rather be alive then worry about a jacket. He ripped it into strips and tied it around her stomach and applied the rest of the jacket as a cloth. Vincent held the jacket in place and examined the rest of the lady's body for other injuries. She must have been in her twenties, probably a college student. She reminded him of a peer her had attended school with back in the day.

"Hang in there. Help is coming."


	2. Chapter 2

Catherine got a text and she knew it was from Vincent. She was doing research on a serial killer named Frank Hurlio. He had kidnapped and slowly killed four women all the same way. Stab wound to the stomach, beaten, duct taped and leaves them to die slowly. They were all brunette's and were about 5'4 to 5'6. Vincent had found one of the bodies and alerted Catherine that Hurlio was active again.

"So this guy likes torturing brunette's who are about your height and you are not worried that he will take interest in the detective in charge who also is a brunette?" Catherine knew he would worry like this.

"Vincent, for the hundredth time, I can take care of myself." Catherine leaned against her window sill and took a breath. Vincent would always worry but she would always worry about him too.

Now Catherine was in her car driving as fast as she could to the Shipton dock to catch the creep. Hopefully Vincent would leave him alive enough to get some charges laid but if he was in a bad mood…

She sped down a row of old packing plants and read the numbers till she found 2230. Catherine parked her car and upholstered her gun. She quietly opened the door, gun drawn ready and turned on her flashlight. The door was unlocked so Catherine quietly turned the knob to open it. She could see light coming from upstairs but could not hear anything.

"Up here," Vincent's voice came from the direction of the light. Of course he heard her coming. She put her gun in the holster and ran up the stairs.

When she entered the room she could see Vincent sitting on the ground with his hand pressing down on the stomach of a young woman. The young woman was unconscious and badly in need of a hospital. They were under a single light bulb that illuminated a small circle of light around Vincent and the young lady. He looked up at Catherine and back at the woman.

"She's just unconscious, the scum bag that did this," he gestured her beaten body, "is over in the corner behind me. Don't worry, he's alive. Jail time is a cake walk compared to what he did to her." He looked down at the girl.

"I'll call an ambulance." Catherine got her phone out and ignored the missed calls from Vargas.

"Hi, I'm at 2230 Shipton Docks, I need an ambulance here immediately." And she hung up the phone.

"How bad is she?" She took a closer look at the damage.

"She has a stab wound about 2 ½ inches deep and has multiple bruises across her face, arms, legs. She's lost a lot of blood." He looked up at Catherine with lots of concern. It could have been her.

"We found out her name is Chantelle Maddock. She is staying in New York to go to school. She fits the profile that Hurlio looks for to a tee. How did you know to come here?"

"I looked at Hurlio's file and saw that his job before his sister was murdered was a security guard for some of these old warehouses and packing plants."

"Why here though?"

"His sister was murdered in one to frame him and then he killed the murderer in the same place, he got a craving to repeat the process but the old warehouse burned down so he had to find the next best thing."

Okay I'm going to see if I can use that as an excuse for being here." Catherine looked over at Hurlio, who was stirring a bit.

Chantelle surfaced from the blackness briefly and heard voices above her. The stranger was talking to a woman not far from where she was laying. She noticed that the jacket she had worn was tied tightly around her stomach where she had been stabbed and that there was one under her head. The stranger's she assumed.

"Vincent you need to leave, the ambulance should be here any minute now."

"I'll know if they are hear." He growled.

"He is unconscious and handcuffed. He can't do anything. Plus you hit him pretty hard."

"I know but," he stopped and looked over at Chantelle. He backed away into the darkness so that she couldn't see him. She tried to call out to him but the sharp pain in her stomach made her recoil.

"You have to lay still, your body needs to recover. Paramedics are on their way." He was behind her all of a sudden. How did he get there so fast she wondered, but then drifted back into the black.

"She's out again. I gotta go." Vincent stood to leave but stopped in front of Catherine.

"If he moves just kick him in the head." Catherine laughed.

"Just go." She turned towards the sound of someone shouting.

"Up here!" She yelled down. She turned back to where Vincent had been standing but he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Chantelle woke up to the sound of a heart monitor beeping and a warm hospital bed. She flinched at the bright light but here eyes adjusted after a while. She tried to sit up but she felt the resistance of an IV in her arm. Shaking her head she carefully adjusted herself into a sitting position. She could feel a pain in her stomach like pins and needles were poking her. Chantelle noticed that her stomach had been patched up. Her head started to force memories of the past day through her head. She tried to squeeze them out but they kept coming back, back to that horrible place.

_Back to the times he hit her._

_Taped her up_

She shook her head to shake them out

_Stabbed her_

_Licked her blood off the blade_

"Chantelle." A voice brought her back to reality. She looked up to find a nurse next to her. She jumped involuntarily.

"Sorry, I just came in to check up on you." The nurse checked the charts and monitors then moved to check her stomach. She winced a bit.

"I'm just going to be one more second. Okay good, you're looking good here. The detective that brought you in is very eager to talk to you."

"Is she here?" Chantelle croaked out, her throat felt raw.

_He had his hands around her throat and shook her violently_

"No, but I am supposed to phone her now that you are awake. Sit back and relax, it seems you went through a big ordeal." Chantelle nodded. The nurse got up and took her chart to the nurse's station.

Catherine received a phone call from the hospital and took the first opportunity to head out there. Vargas came with her, not that she minded too much but she just hoped that Chantelle didn't say anything about Vincent being there. Catherine listened to Tess's drabble about her brothers and how she was glad that they were able to catch Hurlio.

"I just wanna know who knocked the creep out before you got there and give him a drink."

"Yeah, I'm just glad that, whoever they are, they got there before he killed Chantelle." Catherine sipped an herbal tea; she didn't want to be up all night.

" Maybe Wolansky will finally shut his trap when we get this creep behind bars. Where are they keeping her?"

"Intensive care. Third floor." Catherine recited. It's not like she hadn't been there before.

"You okay?" Tess asked trying to sound casual but Catherine knew her partner well enough to know when something was eating at her.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about the way I found her. All tied up and bleeding like that. Who does that?"

"Psycho's that we put away. Don't worry about it. She's safe now."

"Yeah, you're right. It was just, scary."

They went up to the third floor and found Chantelle's room. She was awake and looked better than she did in the packing plant. Catherine could see all the bruises on her face and arms that Hurlio gave her. Anger flared up in her but she kept calm.

"Chantelle? My name is Detective Chandler and this is Detective Vargis. I know it is not something you want to think about but we need to ask you a few questions about what happened last night." Chantelle nodded.

"Whether I want to think about them or not, the events keep popping up in my head anyways. Have at 'er." Chantelle croaked out. Her throat was still sore.

"Could you tell us the events of what happened last night? Where you were and where you were going before you were attacked?" Catherine asked.

"I was heading home from the Library and listening to music when someone's hand covered my mouth and everything went black. I woke up in a room; it had a big open area and a wood floor. I couldn't see much because there was only one light in the room. The guy that came up behind me was standing in front of me with a piece of wood in his hand." Chantelle flinched. She could practically feel that piece of wood beating her again.

"I'm sorry I know this is tough."

"No, it's okay. He started taunting me and circling me. I was on the floor tied up with duct tape. He started to beat me with the wood, over

_Whack_

"Over"

_Whack_

"And over until I swear he hit every inch of my body." Tears started to trickle down her check but she kept going. Catherine knew that Vincent had seen some of what she was describing and still managed to restrain himself from killing that man.

"Do you want to stop?" Vargis asked. Chantelle shook her head and stifled a sniffle.

"He had me tied up so I could only wiggle around a bit. When I did he beat my legs with the stick. He kept telling me how I was never going to see my family again and that he was going to watch me die slowly."

"You were bandaged up with your jacket and Hurlio across the room unconscious. Did you see anyone else there or hear anything?" Catherine asked, she hoped that Chantelle would stay quiet and understand why she was asking the question.

Chantelle looked at Detective Chandler. She had been there, she knew someone had been there and spoke to him like she knew him. Was she asking to make it look like she didn't know as much as she was leading on? Chandler looked a little nervous. Chantelle pretended to think about it for a bit but shook her head again.

"No, I blacked out after he kept hitting me." She said then looked at Chandler directly, "I did wake up to find my jacket pressed into my stomach. Whoever it was must have known what it was they were doing." Chantelle looked over to Varges.

"Were they able to charge him?"

"With this statement and evidence, we will definitely get a conviction. He won't be going anywhere for a long time. You got some guardian angel watching out for you. You're lucky he didn't wait any longer or you may not be here right now."

Chantelle was fiddling with her wrist band and smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Okay we will leave you to rest and recuperate." Varges added and headed towards the door.

"Detective Chandler, it was you that found me originally right?" Chantelle asked.

"Yes, I had a lead about the packing plant and there was only one with a light on so I guess that tidbit paid off."

"Can I ask you something, in private?" Catherine looked at Varges and Varges headed out the door.

"What's on your mind?" Catherine asked.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry, this messes up the order etc. But it needed fixing. Whirlwind421 made a point that Catherine was OOC so I had to fix it. New chapters coming soon.

Chantelle looked over to make sure no Varges was not within ear shot.

"I did see who came in and knocked that creep unconscious." Chantelle waited for Detective Chandler's response. Nothing.

"And I think you know why I'm telling you this off the record. Is he a friend of yours?" Catherine looked out the window wondering if Vincent could hear the conversation.

"Is who a friend of mine?"

"I think you called him Vincent?" The dread Catherine had been waiting for hit her.

"I don't know who you are talking about. I don't know anyone named Vincent." She knew she wasn't very convincing at that moment but she had to keep it up.

"I saw you talking to him. The guy that saved me. I saw you talking to him." Chantelle was getting irritated but Catherine couldn't give in.

"When I got there, there was no one on the scene but you and-"

"I saw you!"

"Chantelle, you were hit in the head a few times; you've got bruises all over your face that tell us that. The doctors also say that you have a concussion. You were probably seeing things."

"Before I blacked out I saw something, a blur, pick up Hurlio and throw him against a wall like he was a rag doll. I saw a stranger in a dark jacket and longish dark hair. Hurlio was unconscious but as soon as I could see that it was a man, he brought him back under the light and held him there like it was holding up a balloon. His eyes were glowing, like yellow lights. I saw his face. It was different, I can't really explain it." She looked up from the blanket and met Catherine's eyes.

Catherine folded her arms; this was not going to be easy for her to shake off. Chantelle had seen Vincent. Seen what he could do; seen his worst side.

"You should get some rest, that concussion-"

"He was going to choke him." Chantelle cut Catherine off, "but I told him to wait. I was going to say you know, wait for the cops but I blacked out before I could say anymore. I guess he listened." Catherine knew Tess was waiting for her so she texted her to meet back at the station.

_Going to do find get in touch with her family. See you there._

"Look, Chantelle. I'm grateful that you are trying to help. But that concussion is clearly not helping your memory at the moment. I didn't see or talk to anyone there when I was there. I found you unconscious and called an ambulance." Catherine tried to emphasize those last few points without sounding obvious. She knew Chatnelle was only trying to help but the less she knew the better.

"Just try and get some rest, I know that may not be easy but try okay? I have to go put a guy behind bars." She turned and headed for the doors.

"Look, I get why you are trying to protect him." Catherine stopped.

"I won't say anything else about it. He saved my life and I just wanted to be able to thank him for that. Whoever her is."

"If we ever find some evidence that will lead us to that Good Samaritan, you may get that chance."

"You and I both know that there won't be any evidence, detective." Chantelle folded her arms and gave Catherine a look that said I-know-that-you-know-the-answer-to-that.

"Good night, Chantelle."

She knew, she knew about Vincent. This was not good. Catherine played dumb, as usual, but she felt sorry for Chantelle. Catherine knew what it was like to be saved by someone that people claimed was not possible or denied knowledge of. What was worse, Chantelle knew she was lying. More lies. Catherine headed to her car before she wandered into the mental ward.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yes I am working on it. School is taking up my time :S. I am not trying to drag it out on purpose... okay sort of, I enjoy torturing you guys muahahahahaha... er... I mean... I'll get right on the next chapter :D

Read on!

Catherine drove back to the station and went to fill out the paperwork. She sat down at her desk and looked at the Hurlio file. She looked at the photo they had of Hurlio and the list of women he had killed in the past. He would not be able to kill anyone. Not for a long time at least.

"So how did it go?" Varges asked.

"Good. She just wanted to ask me if there was any way to find out who it was that saved her. Unless we find DNA evidence I told her it was unlikely." Catherine knew it was unlikely because Vincent made sure none was left behind this time.

Tess looked at her partner. She could tell that she was not telling her the whole story but she knew there was probably a reason for that. Tess knew Cat would tell her if she was in trouble, right?

Catherine walked her report to Joe's desk and checked out for the night. She drove home and opened the door to find Heather cooking in the kitchen.

"You cooking? What's the occasion?"

"I heard you caught that serial killer and thought you could use a victory celebration."

"Okay, um just let me wash up and I'll be out in a bit." She went over to the kitchen and took a sniff at the sizzling skillet. "Mmm, smells delicious. What is it?"

"Nu uh, wash up then I'll tell you."

"It's not something freaky is it?"

"Just go!" Heather pushed her out of the kitchen. Catherine laughed and headed to her room. She threw her bag on her bed and noticed a note on it. She liked receiving notes from Vincent but the fact that he had come in and put it on her bed made her wonder how often he had come into her room in the past.

_Talk later, enjoy dinner._

She folded up the note and tucked it into her top dresser drawer. She smiled; she loved this little game of secret notes. It kept her guessing if he was going to leave her another one. 

Catherine sat through dinner only half listening to Heather chatter on about her guy friend (the one that she had been with when Catherine walked in on them) and about their father's wedding plans but her mind wandered back to Chantelle. She was beaten up and stopped Vincent from killing Hurlio and she kept quiet about what she had seen Vincent do. Plus, Catherine wanted Vincent to get some sort of reward for saving Chantelle. But Hurlio was behind bars and could not hurt anyone for a long time.

"Earth to Catherine."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about how good it is to get Hurlio off the street finally."

"Yeah, did you ever get any leads on the mystery guy that knocked him out?"

"No, there was no DNA evidence. The guy must of cleaned up afterwards. He saved that girl's life." Catherine added, she knew if Vincent was nearby he would hear that.

"I dunno, what if it was a woman instead of a guy. Bout time we had another super karate woman in this city."

"Super Karate woman? I'm not a super karate woman. I've just had practice kicking criminal's butts." Catherine got up and put her dishes in the sink.

"Oh, she assumes I'm talking about her."

"Oh, so you went and learned Karate secretly without me knowing then." Heather hit the back of her sister's head and put her own dishes in the sink. A phone buzzed in the background and both of them instantly reached for their own phone out of reflex.

"It's mine, oh right I was supposed to meet Ryan tonight." Heather looked up from her phone.

"Go for it. I'm pretty tired anyways. Go have fun."

"Are you sure? I feel bad just leaving you right after a victory dinner."

"Don't worry about it. I'm probably just going to watch a movie anyways. See you later." Heather smiled and quickly grabbed her purse from her room and bolted for the door. Catherine watched her sister close the door and turned around to see Vincent in the window next to the fire escape.

"She's not a bad cook, I almost snuck in to grab some." Vincent joked.

"There's still some left over if you want it." Catherine wandered over to the window. Another part of their routine she liked but would never admit out loud. Her pulse probably gave that away anyways.

"How's Chantelle?" He asked.

"She's going to be okay. The wound wasn't deep enough to hit any organs so she should be fine. She's just rattled, which is understandable considering." Vincent gripped the railing.

_"Slowly things will turn darker and you will lose all ability to move. All your strength is leaving you, I can see it." The man stood on top of her and bent down towards her pain stricken face._

He remembered watching that bastard beat Chantelle and letting her bleed out. He pushed it out of his mind before it got his adrenaline pumping.

"Did she say anything about me being there?"

"She saw you when you threw him against a wall and hold him up by his neck." Catherine said, trying to shake off a shudder so that Vincent wouldn't see. She knew he felt crappy enough without her adding to it. She knew he couldn't control it.

"She also said that she got you to stop."

_"Wait." The young woman choked out. Vincent heard her call to him through his instincts that told him to kill. _

"I was that close to snapping his neck. All the things he had done, my instincts told me he deserved it. But when she told me to wait, my instincts were confused. Why would she want me to stop? He did so many horrible things to her but she didn't want to see him die for them."

"She probably didn't want to see you do something that she knew you would regret later." Catherine put her hand on Vincent's knee.

"It's still not good, now someone else has seen me. And not my best side either."

"She did ask about that." Vincent's guard instantly went up.

"What did you tell her?"

"Nothing that would give JT an ulcer." Catherine shifted into a more comfortable position. "Vincent she wants to thank you."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Sorry for the wait. School and work have kept me... but here is another chapter yay! I want to hear from you guys, what do you think? Please send me Review and thanks to those who have been kind enough to send me some :) Luv u!

"Thank me? You mean like in person?" Vincent looked down at the stairs.

"I know it's asking a lot and it would be in a public place, but she really wants to thank her rescuer. And see you as your normal self." Catherine smiled a bit at the idea of normal.

Vincent thought about it for a few minutes. He contemplated the pros and cons of going to the hospital. He caught Catherine's stare and saw plainly on her face that she wanted him to as well.

"I'll think about it. It's not that I don't want to. I mean I would like to see her, make sure she's okay." He smiled, "JT is going to have about 3 ulcers by the end of the week." Catherine laughed. He liked it when she laughed; it reminded him that she felt safe around him. He didn't he was safe to be around her but she still hadn't run away from him yet.

"Your sister is coming back up for something."

"What?" She turned around to look at the door but when she turned around, Vincent was gone. Again.

"One of these days you're going to show me how you do that!" She whispered loudly.

Vincent made his way over to the hospital. Catherine had told him where Chantelle was staying and fortunately for him it was next to a window. He landed on the roof of the hospital and made sure no one was up there for a smoke break. Intensive was on the third floor and there were five floors in this hospital. He had to climb down a bit. He surveyed the area for surveillance cameras and other measures of security. He saw a security camera on the far left that was pointed at the parking lot. Nothing to catch him on tape.

He slowly scaled down the building listening for anyone moving around in the rooms on the other side of the wall. He slowly opened one of the windows and crept in as stealth like as possible. He tried to remember her scent, he sniffed the air. Bad idea. The smell of rotting flesh, blood and many other disgusting smells entered his nostrils. He immediately tried to cover up his mouth from coughing. This time he ever so gently took in a small breath. Vincent could smell the same scent he smelled back at the packing plant. He quietly went out into the hallway and towards the scent. Vincent kept his head down to avoid nurses in case one of them recognized him. It was possible after ten years. He found the room the scent was coming from. The same room Catherine had said earlier. He had only missed his target by two rooms.

As quietly as possible, Vincent opened the door to Chantelle's room and snuck inside before anyone saw him. He turned to find Chantelle asleep in her bed all hooked up to an IV and an updated version of all the machines he was used to work with when he was an intern. He looked around to make sure no one was going to come in and see him there and grabbed her chart. Vincent looked over all the notes scribbled on the sheets. Memories of looking over actual patients flooded his memory and he put the chart back. He heard someone walking towards Chantelle's room, rather, two people. They had forceful steps, military background most likely, and kept their strides even like a march. Vincent quickly opened the window and climbed outside. He was going to close it but the men opened the door.

"I knew following her cases would eventually give us the proof we needed. He is trying hard to be human and yet he can't escape his true nature."

"She did say that he stopped though. That was something we never saw in previous test subjects. Maybe the genes are trying to restore themselves back to their original state."

"Just grab the mic before someone sees us. I don't want anyone to alert the wrong people." One of the men moved around and picked up the microphone Vincent guessed they left their earlier and used it to catch Catherine's conversation with Chantelle. Muirfield knew that Chantelle had knowledge of Vincent's existence. This was very bad.

"Hey, who leaves a window open in a hospital?" Uh oh. Vincent quickly moved to the roof so he was out of sight. He accidentally hit the wall too hard, making noise as he hit the paved rooftop.

He heard the men rush to the window.

"Racoon." The first one said after a few minutes. Vincent listened till he heard them exit the building.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Please don't hate me. I messed up and Chapter 6 and 7 are the same... New one coming soon I promise.

Now...

Read on!

"Catherine, they know."

"Who knows?" Catherine took a minute and grasped who Vincent was talking about. Muirfield. How did they know? Did Chantelle tell them by accident?

"They had a microphone in her room. They said they were keeping tabs on your cases in case I turned up in one of them.

"They must have heard my conversation with her then. This is not good, especially for Chantelle. She has no idea what all this is about though."

"I have a feeling she might not get the chance to find out."

"What can we do? We can't move her out of the hospital without rousing suspicion and she's not allowed out of there for a few days.

"They won't do anything while she is still high profile. They might wait until she is out of the public eye. More like when she gets out of the hospital."

"Unless they…" Catherine shivered; she did not want to think about what they could to Chantelle when no one was looking. Hurlio would be a walk in the park in comparison. Catherine began to pace around her apartment with her cell phone glued to her ear, glad that Heather was not home.

"They won't get the chance." Vincent's voice growled through the speaker.

"What should we do?"

"Check up on her from time to time. How long do the doctors want to keep her there?"

"At least two days. Mostly she has bruising and her stomach should be fine as long as she doesn't do any back flips."

"Sounds about right." Gloom was seeping into his voice.

"Where are you now" Catherine changed the subject. A loud thump echoed on the fire escape. She knew who that was.

"Nice." She smiled. Vincent couldn't help but smile too at his perfectly planned entrance.

"Did you see her?"

"I saw her but she was asleep. The guys came in before I could do anything."

"Well there is always tomorrow. What should we tell her?"

"Not much."

"She's already seen your rough side. I'll bet she's got many theories by now."

"The one thing I'm not entirely sure I understand is that she was able to stop me from killing that guy. I was not in control but somehow, seeing her ask for me to wait for the cops instead, confused me but my human side understood. She didn't want me to do something I would regret. She could see me." Catherine put her hand on his and looked at him for a while. They were no closer to a solution but she knew they would find something.

"Oh, I looked into her profile. She's a student at guess where?" Vincent shook his head.

"Where?"

"In JT's class."

"You're kidding." Vincent laughed.

"BioChem 101. Well at least she will have a legitimate excuse for missing his class."

JT gathered up his notes from his class, wondering how some of these students even made it through graduation. He was just about finished when Catherine entered the lecture hall. He saw her and shook his head.

"One of these days you should just hand me my death certificate."

"I am actually here on behalf of one your students."

"One of my students?"

"Yes, Chantelle Mackenzie. She was kidnapped two nights ago and was being tortured by Frank Hulio." JT's eyes grew wider. Catherine brought up a photo of Chantelle on her phone.

"Yeah, I think she is using BioChem as part of her Psychology Degree. She was asking me a bunch of questions after class yesterday. God, is she okay? I mean not that she would be okay after being tortured but she's not… dead or anything… is she?"

"No, actually. She's in hospital recovering. Some mystery man came in and saved her in time and left Hurlio for us." Catherine tried to keep a straight face but when she saw JT's grasped who the mystery man was she bit her lip.

"Forget Muirfield killing him, I'm going to kill him. He's-"

"A hero and in this case, a tricky one. Chantelle saw him when he's-" Catherine had to stop because she wasn't quite sure what to call it.

"Oh…" JT knew what she meant. Catherine somehow imagined another Ulcer forming in his stomach.

"Since she had no one close in town I took the liberty of telling you so her marks won't suffer for it."

"What are you going to do?" JT asked as Catherine turned to leave.

"I really don't know yet." Her phone rang before JT could respond.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Here is a longer one to hopefully make up for the long wait. Any OOC or any issues you have please, please, PLEASE let me know!

Enjoy!

Chantelle was stuck in the hospital bed with her laptop and school books one of her classmates had dropped off for her. It was four in the morning but she couldn't sleep. She had missed two days of classes already and she really couldn't afford to miss anymore. The doctors had told her she had to stay in bed but she couldn't stand it. Detective Chandler, or Catherine as she had insisted after a while, kept stopping by to check up on her at least once a day. It was nice that someone who didn't know her was so concerned for her, especially in New York. It was sort of odd though. How many cops came by to check up on the victims in their cases that often? The first time it was for paperwork but the next day was just a social visit.

"Detective."

"Catherine, please. How are you?" Catherine came in and stood at the foot of her bed.

"Bored out of my mind. Is there more paperwork or statements I need to give?" She had asked, wondering for Catherine's visit.

"No, that's all taken care of now. Actually, I was just curious how you were doing, if you wanted to talk…or anything."

"About what happened? Not really. It's not a pleasant memory. I'd actually prefer working on BioChem over that." She chuckled to keep things light.

"BioChem? BioChem was not on my take-willingly list of classes in school."

"I'll admit English and Psychology are more my thing but BioChem is to help me with the psychology, or so the school advisor told me. I have a feeling enrollment was down for that class."

"I took law mostly. I was going to be a lawyer but I changed my mind."

"And became a detective. That must be hard to keep up with in New York."

"There is a stigma, but I worked hard to get where I am." Catherine's phone rang and she excused herself. Chantelle wondered if it was that Vincent guy but didn't want to ask questions. He was in hiding after all.

"That was my partner; I got to head back to the precinct."

"Okay, well thanks for checking up on me. I should be getting out tomorrow they said. I'll hold them to that."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, as long as I am careful with the stitching I should be okay." She was putting on a brave face, Catherine noted. Physically she was healing as well as could be expected. It was the mental aspect Catherine was worried about.

"I'm glad to hear that. Take care." Catherine headed to the door and stopped. She took something out of her coat and handed Chantelle her card. Chantelle looked at her.

"Just in case you ever want to talk or..."

"Thanks." Chantelle smiled and Catherine left.

Now she was typing away at her homework assignments she needed to hand into her teachers. Her BioChem teacher was very strict on assignments being in before class started. She was allowed to go home but not to school yet. Apparently, the school was alerted to her situation and was able to excuse her absences but she didn't want her "incident" to put her behind. Work was the best thing for her. Kept her mind busy.

"Going to click away at that all night?" Chantelle nearly jumped out of her skin. She had thought she was alone in her room. She looked around to see a silhouette near the window.

"Who's there?" She asked barely. Her voice had left her it seemed. The silhouette moved closer to her. It was Vincent. He looked like a normal man, except for a scar that was etched into his right cheek.

"It's you." She breathed out. Her heart was trying to make its way back down her throat and back to her rib cage. "Are you trying to give someone a heart attack?" Inside, her brain was freaking out like a little girl who got her Christmas present she always wanted early.

"This is a hospital, the doctors could resuscitate you easily." Vincent said in a low tone.

"True." She put her laptop on the table beside her. "I was hoping I'd get a chance to see you again." Chantelle tried to sound as normal as possible but she doubted she did.

"I would have thought, after seeing me…"

"Considering I saw you on one of your bad days? It wasn't exactly one of my best days either." "Bad day all around then. I hear you're going to make a full recovery though."

"I get out later today." Her inner psychologist took over and she examined him as much as she could without looking like a creeper. His clothes were worn and stained slightly in some places. His hair was slightly long and a bit windswept. He kept out of view from the nurses and any other passer-by-ers. She realized she was staring and looked away.

She had so many questions but didn't want to scare him off with them.

"Catherine was really trying hard to convince me what I had seen was from the concussion but I knew it wasn't. I thought about it after and came to the conclusion that she was just trying to help. I figured you were probably not one to go showing off when you're… in a bad mood."

"That's not the only reason. Knowing about me is dangerous. There are people that want to wipe away all traces of my existence. All traces." He noted the last two words with emphasis.

"As in anyone who has seen you." Chantelle looked down at her hands. She understood what he was trying to tell her.

"I wouldn't say anything. Honest, I wouldn't-"

"It doesn't matter if you would or not, you still saw me and what I could have done. Unfortunately, they already know." Chantelle's eyes grew wide.

"What?" She whispered.

"They may not have enough evidence to prove you know anything but they might try and come after you."

"How do they know I might know something? I only tried talking to Catherine and we were alone. I made sure of it."

"They had a microphone in your room the other day. They heard you talking to Catherine."

"But she denied knowing anything about you too."

"She was trying to keep you out of the loop so that we could avoid all of this."

"What if I can convince them I don't know anything? Like that I thought it was part of the concussion and imagined you."

"They are not ignorant. They also don't take chances. Trust me." The voice of experience.

"Well, what can we do about it in the meantime? I get out tomorrow-"

"Someone is coming to check up on you. Stay alert." Vincent headed towards the window. Chantelle looked towards the door to see if she could see someone and saw a nurse heading her way. She looked back at Vincent, but he was gone.

The nurse opened the door. "What are you still doing awake? Come on, this is no time to be playing on the computer. You're going to wake everyone up."

"I was just shutting it down now." Chantelle shifted under her covers into a sleeping position to keep the nurse happy but she knew she wouldn't get any sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Here is the next chapter. Murfield alert!

Vincent headed back to Catherine's apartment but realized it was still only about 4:30 in the morning. He took out a piece of paper from his jacket and borrowed a pen.

_Talked to her_

He wrote the note and was going to leave it on her window sill as usual but he stopped at her door. He carefully opened it and looked in. Catherine was sleeping peacefully and blissfully unaware of her surroundings. Vincent guessed that she was dreaming of a world where she didn't have to lie all the time. He couldn't blame her; he wished she didn't have to either. Vincent figured that leaving the note in her room would look bad so he left it on the kitchen counter. He knew Catherine would be awake much earlier than her sister would. He took off back to the warehouse.

Catherine woke up to her alarm yelling at her to get up. She went through her routine; get up, have a shower, get dressed, go grab coffee but before she could head to work, a piece of paper caught her eye.

A note from Vincent.

She eagerly grabbed it and read it. A small sigh of relief hit, one less person to lie to. One day she hoped to introduce Vincent to her family and friends but she knew that day might never come. The clock on the stove caught her eye and she headed to work as usual. She also considered getting locks for her windows in case the next person to enter her apartment through the window wasn't Vincent.

"Hurlio's trial starts tomorrow. They wanted to get him in fast." Varges noted as she read the report.

"He tortured and killed three women and attempted a fourth. I'm not surprised they want him off the streets as soon as possible but tomorrow is really quick, even for the courts." Catherine took the report and read it herself.

"Ladies, I see a lot of sitting and not a lot of investigating. Got a hot case for you. Man found in his home murdered about an hour ago." Catheine took the folder out of Joe's hand and looked it over.

"Why are you two still sitting here?" Joe looked at them like they were trying to staple water to a tree.

"On it boss." Tess grabbed her coat and dragged Catherine along with her.

Chantelle carefully packed up her belongings and waited for the doctor to give her the release papers. She couldn't wait to get out of there, she hated hospitals. She stuffed her books into her backpack when the door opened behind her. The doctor was back.

"Good Morning Ms. Mackenzie." A sickeningly sweet voice called to her. A big chill iced her insides, it wasn't the doctor.

She turned slowly to see two men standing in the doorframe and one waiting outside.

"Oh, hi. Um, didn't I already give a police statement?"

"Yes, a very descriptive one. Except for one detail." The lead man walked a bit forward. It made Chantelle uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.

"Which detail?"

"The description of the man who came in to 'save the day.' " She didn't like how he said that.

"Oh, that's because I didn't see anyone. I was in and out of consciousness so I saw someone moving around the room but I thought it was Fred Hurlio." Flashes of that night raced through her head

_The hand from behind putting a cloth on her mouth_

_The blows to the head_

_Whack_

_Whack_

_Whack_

_The knife breaking through into her skin_

Chantelle's hand subconsciously went to her stomach. She shook it off.

"I'm sorry, it must be an unpleasant reminder. I was just wanting to look into any and all leads that will help us find the man who helped you."

"Oh, it's a guy?"

"Yes, the bruising around Hurlio's neck suggests the strength of a tradesman or someone with a lot of upper body strength."

"Hmm. Glad you guys are investigating. Sounds dangerous."

"Very dangerous. In fact, we are surprised Hurlio was left alive."

"It's not justice to kill someone for their actions without hearing all the facts first." Chantelle said.

"I think we have the makings of a future agent." The man smiled. It was a cold smile.

"I'll see what the requirements are for CSIS. Sorry I can't be more helpful. I hope you can find something that will lead you to the guy. He did save my life but if he's dangerous, sounds like he needs to be off the streets too. Gotta love New York huh?" The agent chuckled and turned to his fellow agents.

"Let's go. Let me know if you remember anything Ms. Mackenzie." He took a card out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Chantelle. She took it and nodded. He looked at her for a moment and all three men left.

Chantelle let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. This was going to be a long day.


	10. Chapter 10

This will be ending soon, maybe 2 more chapters. Enjoy

P.S. Reviews are wonderful :D

The first thing Chantelle wanted to do when she got home was have a shower. She was going to rock out to some music and forget the events of the past few days. She got in the front door of her apartment and tossed her bag onto a spare chair. Her old CD player had an old Meredith Brooks cd in it. She hit the play button and got rid of her dirty clothes, she had to wear the ones she had worn to the hospital, even though they were covered in dirt and blood. Chantelle ignored what they represented and focused on the music

_I don't envy you, I'm a bit of everything,_

"All rolled into ONE! I'm a B****, I'm a lover, I'm a Child I'm a mother…" Chantelle belted out the chorus on her way to the shower and started swinging to the music. She was glad no one was there to see her making a fool of herself but she didn't care. She refused to look at her bruised body when she got into the shower and kept belting out the song.

The pain in her stomach returned.

She'd twisted the wrong way and nearly pulled the stitches out. To avoid looking at the wound, she watched the water fall coming out of the showerhead. She felt where the stitches were and it felt like they were all in place. Chantelle did not want to go back to the hospital again, she just got out.

…_I'm your Hell, I'm your dream_

_I'm nothing in between_…

Chantelle refused to look at it. She just continued washing her hair, avoiding the bruises. Who was she kidding? The music wasn't helping and the shower was the opposite of distracting. She finished washing, dried off and wrapped herself in a warm fuzzy bathrobe.

_ I think it's cool, you do what you do _

_And don't try to save me_

She wondered what it would be like if she had died in that "incident." Would she have avoided all this embarrassment she felt and loathing for the man that made her look like a beaten up piece of meat? If Vincent…

Vincent…

That was an entirely other ball game. Clearly the FBI agents were looking for evidence of him and did not like the fact he might have helped someone. Was he an experiment gone wrong? Or was he one that went right? After all, he did save her life and spared that scum's life.

Tea sounded like a good idea, so she went over to the kitchen and began to boil some water.

_When you're hurt, when you suffer_

_I'm your angel undercover_- Chantelle shut off the music and sank into her comfy chair. Now she knew why people went out to drown their sorrows in vodka. That way the images and memories would slip away. For a while at least. Her phone gave a quick ring, reminding her that she had a class this afternoon.

"English then BioChem. Oh joy." She groaned. She had an official doctor's note but she knew it would hurt her grades if she didn't complete the assignments. Maybe she could at least get an extension on it. She dragged herself out of her chair, took care of the screaming kettle, and got dressed for the day.

She dressed in a long sleeved top, jeans and a scarf. It was fall after all. There would not be questioning looks because of what she was wearing. She even put a cloth wrap around her stomach to avoid any bleeding or ripping the stitches. It was the big bruise on her forehead and on her right cheek. The bruise on her forehead could be covered by her hair, but the one on her cheek would stand out, even with cover-up. It was painful to touch so she gave up and decided to leave it. People would ask her questions anyways, so why avoid it.

"Mr. Forbes, I know I missed your deadline for the term project but I was wondering if I could get an extension on it. I have a doctor's note to prove I was legitimately not able to make it."

JT looked up from his notes. It was Chantelle. He didn't know how much she knew about Vincent and everything but he was not going to give anything away. He was about to say something but he caught sight of the large bruise under her eye. It was the size of a fist. His head felt ghost pains to when Catherine had hit him in the back of the head.

"Yeah, I had a detective come in to tell me you may not be coming back for a while. Are you um, okay?" Chantelle shifted. She betted it had been Catherine.

"I'm fine. Really I am." JT didn't want to sound too much like a creeper so he didn't pursue anymore.

"Yeah, can you have it in by next week?"

"If I can understand it by then, yes."

"I'll tell you what, there is a website from a few semesters ago that some student made with my lectures on it. He also put up notes that he made in class to go with the lectures. Of course, he thought I would never find it but…" JT wrote the website down on a piece of paper and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Was all Chantelle could think to say. She couldn't tell if he was actually a nice guy or being nice to her because of what happened. She grabbed her belongings and headed out the door.


End file.
